The Scottish Stock Exchange was a stock exchange which started trading on 2 January 1964 following a merger of the four main stock exchanges in Scotland: the Edinburgh Stock Exchange, Glasgow Stock Exchange, Dundee Stock Exchange, and Aberdeen Stock Exchange.^[1] The main secretariat of the exchange was in Glasgow, while the Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen exchanges operated as local branches^[2] until 1971, when the local exchanges closed completely.^[3]

During the construction of the new Scottish Stock Exchange building in St George's Place, Glasgow, the exchange was housed in a converted warehouse on Ingram Street. The new building was opened after two years' work on 13 April 1971.^[4]

In 1973, the Scottish Stock Exchange merged into the London Stock Exchange.^[5]

Since then, there have been calls to re-establish an independent stock exchange in Scotland.^[5][6]

In 2016, plans were announced for the establishment of a Scottish Stock Exchange by a group of ex-NASDAQ traders and Scottish investors to be based in Edinburgh. The announcement was made after the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.^[7]

In 2018, fresh plans for a Scottish Stock Exchange were unveiled when businessman Tomás Carruthers announced a deal with Euronext to provide its Optiq software platform for a virtual exchange based in Scotland, tentatively known as Bourse Scot.^[8] Background research ^[9] published in November 2018 was positively reviewed in Forbes magazine.^[10] Further details were disclosed at an event in March 2019 ^[11] with news of funding arranged with the accountancy and business advisory firm, AAB ^[12] once FCA approval is gained.^[13] On 9 May 2019 it was announced that Scottish Enterprise had awarded a £750,000 Regional Selective Assistance grant to Project Heather in support of 45 highly skilled jobs ^[14] However, the scheme collapsed later in the year leaving employees unpaid.^[15]